<p>cherryhill: One thing that it is important to know about applying to UT Austin is that students may qualifiy for admission to the school but admission to particular majors may be more difficult. If I remember correctly students apply to their top 2 or three choices of schools within UT. If they don’t get admitted to a school of choice they may be admitted to Liberal Arts or General Studies (I’m not sure what they call it.) Transferring into a chosen major as an internal transfer is usually easier than from an external transfer,but there are no guarantees and some majors are still very competitive requiring a very high GPA to qualify for the transfer.</p>
<p>Ok holliesue, so honors program is great (check)…</p>
<p>anyone else wanna speculate as to what happened to the rest of the school? I’m particularly interested in business…</p>
<p>and for UTAustin, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there a situation where OOS freshman are not guaranteed housing? or something like that?</p>
<p>I think StonyBrook was the SUNY for the sciences, back in the day (late 60’s, early 70’s). I don’t remember Albany being the “best.” Binghamton was the SUNY for humanities. Today, I think Geneseo and Binghamton are considered tops. Geneseo wasn’t even in the running in the old days.(Post dictated by Vitrac’s H, StonyBrook class of 72!)</p>
<p>^^except for Jenna Wolfe (The Today Show)…haha</p>
<p>Al Roker–Oswego, I think. He says they met his stringent admission requirements, they accepted him!</p>
<p>Albany is great for poli sci/government majors…tons of opportunities for internships in state government, lobby groups etc. It definitely now has a party rep overall. Personally I never was into partying…even back in the day…so I managed to get through college without experiencing the side of Albany showcased in the youtube videos of the ST Patricks day melee.</p>
<p>The Albany video wouldn’t dissuade me if the school were on my list. College students drinking to excess on St. Patricks day. It could happen anywhere, and does.</p>
<p>vitrac-sadly you are correct. All I can say is that I hope the Albany County DA prosecutes those involved to the fullest extent of the law. the behavior on the video disgusted me. Unfortunately I have seen a pattern of prosecutorial discretion that gives breaks to college students and prosecutes low income, often minority students, to the fullest extent. These college kids need to learn that this type of behavior is CRIMINAL and will not be tolerated or excused. This is coming from someone who started out her legal career 25 years ago as a public defender!!!</p>
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<p>I just saw the YouTube Albany video. Agree with HollieSue, these kids (adults!!) should be prosecuted. Their behavior is criminal and should be treated as such. The owner of the car should be suing them also and Albany should kick their butts out. The video I saw showed only a few kids exhibiting the offensive behavior.</p>
<p>vitrac-very true that only a few (perhaps a dozen) engaged in the actual criminal behavior, but sadly many others stood by and cheered them on. but I will stop now as I feel like I am hijacking this thead…sorry RVM!!!</p>
<p>If you read the Albany papers (Times Union), MOST of the SUNY Albany community is appalled and embarrassed at the conduct of the students who were arrested last weekend. There are a lot of Albany students, faculty and staff who volunteer in the Albany community. And the university took quick action to suspend the students who participated in the vandalism. I went to an Ivy League school and remember similar incidents occurring.</p>
<p>holliesue - no apologies please - tangents are welcome. And really - it’s not that much of a tangent - keeping an eye on some of the really bad behavior at some of the colleges we have been discussing is completely relevant. Penn State had quite a fracas recently as well - although perhaps not as bad as the one in Albany. Also - this is the clearest indication that Texas is on the wrong track - this type of immature, drunken behavior demonstrates that guns and college students do not mix.</p>
<p>cherryhill - one thing about applying to UT Austin is to get everything in well before the deadline. Most colleges give some leeway - as long as the student’s application is there before the deadline - they don’t disqualify an applicant if the test scores or transcript arrive a few days after the deadline. Not so at UT - so be sure all pieces are there on time.</p>
<p>They also have some interesting rules regarding OOS applicants. If you have a high enough SAT or ACT score you are fine - but if not - the hs has to complete additional paperwork certifying that the hs courses meet the standards set forth by the Texas BOE - it gets kind of complicated - do look into it.</p>
<p>And as far as S2 goes - our calm orderly process is now becoming more like a ball zinging around inside a pinball machine. Today - he is all about Virginia Tech. I have no idea why. But whatever - I said I loved visiting colleges - right? I may find myself eating those words.</p>
<p>A reasonable choice for a Jewish “B” student, right? Does anyone reading/lurking/posting have any feedback on this school? I think it is too big - but willing to explore further. We now have tentative plans to visit in April. They actually have a hotel on the campus - which looks pretty nice - so that’s where we are going to stay as we are adding this stop to the end of our Charleston trip. I’m going to do some reading on the VT forum - but if anyone here has a student who applied to or attends VT - I’d love to hear from you.</p>
<p>One of my favorite professors from a summer biology program (U.Michigan Bio Station) was from VT. Lots of kids followed him for grad school. A good place overall was my take on it. Big but not as big is UoM!</p>
<p>“this is the clearest indication that Texas is on the wrong track - this type of immature, drunken behavior demonstrates that guns and college students do not mix” RVM you are so right. Since all things are pointing to S2 staying in Texas I find this really alarming!</p>
<p>cherryhill: What RVM says about the deadlines for UT Austin is correct and in recent years they have made the application deadline earlier and earlier so do check the date. The last I remember it was 12/1 but it may even be earlier this year.</p>
<p>Happy Purim, everyone! And, did you see the moon?
In answer to what programming is being done in our respective congregations and organizations for 12th graders, I think that this is a really good question for everyone to answer because, for so many students, “senioritis” affects Jewish activities too and they just kind of drop out of everything. I would love to hear what is being done around the country! I think that the poster who said that there was a session about answering questions about Israel has a great thing going.
Our congregation is offering four sessions with the Rabbi - Talmud study, Midrash study, a text to be determined for study, and a “night on the town”. Only a rabbi who is truly great with kids would be able to pull this off, but luckily he relates to teenagers really, really well and they love him. I hope that he gets attendance for this! Attendance for the Megillah reading tonight was poor; my daughter was one of only two seniors who went.</p>
<p>RVM: Here’s the local feedback on Virginia Tech. My neighbor visited with her son and they loved the school. Just said it was really hard to get to (and a very long ride from here). Her son got in with $$ but he didn’t go there. Another friend visited TONS of schools with her son for mechanical engineering. She said VT had the most “toys” for MEs and he ended up going there and loves it. She was in a little sticker shock over the cost of the flights/transportation. He is Jewish but I’m sure he’s not involved there as he wasn’t here at all (although living in a very Jewish town). I do know that he is really taking advantage of and enjoying the outdoor/adventure activities available there.</p>
<p>rockvillemom, I have a son currently at Virginia Tech in engineering. He loves it(we are not Jewish so can’t help you with issues about Hillel,etc). It is a big school but not so big as to feel overwhelming.Lots of school spirit. The town of Blacksburg is a cute little town. Most kids would either drive to campus(by themselves or with friends or family),fly into Roanoke and then take a bus from the airport,use Homeride or megabus. We stayed at the Inn at Virginia Tech last November. Lovely hotel.Enjoy your visit if you end up going there!
Also,tell your son(which I’m sure you already have) to keep his grades up if he is currently a “B” student. VT likes to see good grades! My son despite 1360 SAT in CR and math was initially waitlisted in 09. He had A’s but also B’s and a couple of C’s. However, he has flourished at VT and has made the Dean’s List every time.Some boys just seem to take awhile to get going academically.Good luck to you and your son!</p>
<p>RVM - I’m a parent of another very happy Hokie. We were worried about VT’s size at first too, but it hasn’t been a problem at all and our son has thrived there. I think students find their ‘niche’, whether it be a campus group like Hillel, a themed dorm, the Corps of Cadets, etc. and that makes the campus even more manageable. VT can be a reach for a B student so your son will have to keep up his grades and score well on the SAT or ACT, although there’s a little leeway depending on the program. </p>
<p>Good luck on your visit (that’s what sold DS on Tech - he thought it was the friendliest campus of all the schools he’d visited and knew immediately that it was his top choice).</p>
<p>hokiesfan is right-friendly people plus a beautiful campus! It should be gorgeous in April. Also, good advice about finding a “niche.” Son did club sports when he first got to campus. We loved the Inn at Virginia Tech. My sister stayed at the Main Street Inn and loved that as well.Good luck with your visits!</p>